3 Oct 2025

Trump piles pain on Democrats over US government shutdown

5:41 am on 3 October 2025

By Frankie Taggart, AFP

A portrait of former US President Ronald Reagan hangs behind US President Donald Trump as Trump makes an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 30 September, 2025.

US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, this week. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP

Donald Trump has signalled that he plans to follow through on his threat for mass layoffs of US federal workers as he ratcheted pressure on Democrats to back moves to end the government shutdown.

The Republican president announced he would meet budget chief Russell Vought "to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent".

Trump's announcement on his Truth Social website came with the government entering the second day of a stoppage that is expected to see 750,000 employees being sent home without pay across a wide range of agencies.

Vought told House Republicans on Wednesday (local time) many of those workers would be targeted for permanent layoffs to be announced in the next day or two, echoing Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt's threat that firings were "imminent".

Leavitt told reporters on Thursday the job cuts were likely going to number "in the thousands".

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions from reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. Joined by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Leavitt discussed the federal government shutdown, after Congress and the White House failed to reach a funding deal by the October 1 deadline and halted U.S. government services for the first time in nearly seven years.   Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt at yesterday's media briefing at the White House. Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Alex Wong

Trump has emphasised that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, arguing that "we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them".

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries have dismissed the job cuts threat as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court.

Two Senate Democrats and an independent who votes with the party have broken with their colleagues but the rest have been voting against a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded at current levels through 21 November.

Weekend votes?

The Senate is not voting on Thursday because of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, but another vote is expected on Friday and on most days until the standoff is resolved.

With Democrats expected to block the Republican reopening plan again, Republicans were reportedly mulling sending their senators home after the vote - effectively guaranteeing the shutdown drags into next week.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose members have been off all week, told reporters Senate leaders need to stick to an initial plan to work through the weekend in Washington.

"And the House is coming back next week, hoping that they will be sending us something to work on, that we can get back to work and do the people's business," he told a news conference at the US Capitol.

For now, Democrats are dug in on their demands for extending health care subsidies before they will agree to a funding deal.

Five additional Democratic votes would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate to green-light the House-passed bill.

As each side seeks to point the finger at the other over the shutdown, polling indicates that Democrats and Republicans may currently be sharing the blame.

A new poll from the Washington Post found that 47 percent of Americans blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown, while just 30 percent point the finger at Democrats.

But a New York Times/Siena survey showed two-thirds of respondents said Democrats should not shut down the government if Republicans do not agree to their demands.

Adding to pressure on Democrats to relent and provide votes to reopen the government, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that the shutdown could hurt US economic growth.

"This isn't the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP," he said.

- AFP

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs